


adoration, disjoint, stairs

by ImberNox



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Year 3, minor juban, minor tsuzusaku
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:27:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25454656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImberNox/pseuds/ImberNox
Summary: This is super, super late, but I did finish it! I originally intended this to be set in year three, but I ended up not writing in any details that would make that obvious. Intended to be set after Royal Blue by a few months (I think that's Year 3). I haven't proofread yet because I'm lazy.
Relationships: Chigasaki Itaru/Citron
Comments: 8
Kudos: 48
Collections: A3! Rare Pairs Week 2020





	adoration, disjoint, stairs

There’s a long list of life experiences that Itaru has long since written off as unattainable to him – at least, in this lifetime. The list had started sometime back in elementary school when he had realized through tears that he would never be good at riding his bicycle like his classmates were, and the list had grown exponentially since. His performance in P.E. had been humiliating throughout all of school, and it had come at a cost to what could have been a perfect ‘A’ report card. Thus, he was cheated out of the elusive ranks of the ‘tops’ of the class. Popularity, almost as a direct result, had been far beyond his reach, too. He didn’t have the talents to shine beyond his peers. In fact, he had failed auditions for the choirs that his sister had encouraged him to join (‘to boost your charisma,’ she had said).

So, finding success and a family, even, within Mankai Theatre Company was beyond his imagination. It wasn’t easy to move in with permanent intentions, and it still isn’t easy to give more time to theatre than games some days, but he can feel the old wounds sealing up the longer he spends with Harugumi troupe. And he’s trying his best to give back where he can.

He’s been helping Sakuya with his studies to ease the workload off of Tsumugi-san’s shoulders, though the boy barely needs the help now that he’s entered university. He knows that Sakuya appreciates his company more than he really uses the pointers Itaru gives him, but Itaru doesn’t mind in the slightest. Besides, he can always grind his mobile games while Sakuya works. Masumi is an entirely different story, and Itaru’s relationship with the kid is still rocky even after their team-building during and after their _Boy Alice in Wonderland_ run. Yet, they’re at a point where the sarcasm and the jokes are expected rather than rare, and Itaru counts that as a good thing. Tsuzuru, too, seems to enjoy Itaru’s company as he finishes up his university portfolio no matter how much he complains about Itaru’s phone volume.

The relationship that has routinely caught Itaru off-guard, however, is Citron.

They had started off as perhaps the closest of Harugumi due to Citron’s easy humor and knowledge of the games that Itaru liked to play. It hadn’t uncommon for Citron to fall asleep in Itaru’s room, and they spent nearly half of their nights during _Romeo and Julius_ draped over Itaru’s couch.

So, when Citron’s semi-regular stays in Itaru’s room overnight had bloomed into Citron proposing a relationship to him mid-boss fight in _Ni-Oh_ , Itaru had thought that this could be yet another opportunity to give back to the family that had helped him heal. With no small amount of denial towards his own affections for Citron, he had accepted : and then turned his attention back to the boss on-screen.

For the most part, Itaru’s pace of life hadn’t changed. He still went to work too early in the mornings with his unique type of hangover that came from gaming up until three hours before his morning alarm. He still came home too late in the evenings : only sometimes eating dinner with the rest of the theatre before holing away in his room. He still invited Banri and Sakuya over on the weekends during his gaming marathons, and he still spent half of his nights in bed with Citron sprawled out on top of him.

What was different – jarringly so – was the spike in romantic advances by Citron in the time that spaced out the above routine.

And this, whatever Citron thinks he’s doing, is undoubtedly one of those advances.

The vaults of the Zahran palace glitter with the light refractions of the gemstones lined along the walls. They’re perched on pedestals : standing at attention for their princely visitor and said visitor’s guest. Itaru is keenly aware of how much affection Citron holds for all of these gems. The Zahran jewel from their company’s gemstone exhibition was just the tip of the iceberg for Citron. And, increasingly, Itaru is beginning to suspect that Citron is trying to trip some flag with him – progress to a new story – with all of the cheeky comments being thrown his way.

“Ooh! Itaru, honey! This one!” Citron glides over to a magnificent red stone some pedestals down from the peridot they were just admiring.

Itaru follows more slowly, wary of the way the guards are eyeing them and the way that Citron’s eyes are twinkling with mischief brighter than the gems themselves.

“It’s pretty,” Itaru compliments passively, but he bends forwards slightly to examine the stone.

It certainly is a pretty gem, but Citron has exclaimed ‘this one!’ for the past five gems, and Itaru can only take so much enthusiasm before he grows emotionally exhausted. _Oh well,_ he thinks to himself. If he needs a nap after this, at least there’s someone to share the bed with.

“We call this jewel, hmm, carnation?”

“Carnelian?”

“That’s the one!” Citron’s smile is radiant. It always is whenever Itaru corrects his vocabulary, and now, knowing that most of Citron’s language slips are intentional rather than ignorant, it amuses Itaru all the more.

 _Carnation, huh_ , he chuckles, feeling some of the exhaustion slip away.

Then, Citron sweeps the gemstone off of its padding, and Itaru nearly chokes. He glances in a panic at the guards, but they make no motion to stop their prince from handling so easily a prized jewel of the palace vaults. Itaru returns his gaze to Citron, who is smiling at Itaru with enough meanness in the glint of his eyes to tell Itaru that he’s teasing him.

“You’re lucky that you’re the prince,” Itaru huffs.

“No, no,” Citron tuts. “They are lucky to have me. I bring life to this stuffy place.”

Itaru snorts, and he wants to reply with something equal in jest and mirth. But then Citron is reaching out with one hand for his cheek like he wants to bring Itaru into a kiss. But the hand stretching out is still clutching the carnelian, and it isn’t heading towards the curve of Itaru’s jaw as it usually does. Citron holds the carnelian out towards the corner of Itaru’s eyes : gaze soft. Itaru swallows a little thickly and a little scratchily.

“Citron?”

“This one catches your eyes so well.”

“It’s ‘matches,’” Itaru says, but it lacks the usual snarky tone. What can he say? He’s horribly distracted.

Citron seems delighted with this response. He lowers the carnelian and his voice. “You’d look pretty with a crown of carnelian.”

Itaru’s mouth goes a little dry. He’s been with Citron long enough now to understand that such comments were Citron’s way of flirting and not sincere requests or proposals. Citron means that he’d like to see Itaru wear something pretty that suits him. And yet Itaru can’t ignore the glance that the guards give each other from the corners of their eyes. They’re wondering, as Itaru’s mind had immediately went, how long it will be until Citron’s position as crown prince will bring him back to Zahra for good – and who Citron might bring with him. The word ‘crown’ holds weight in Citron’s mouth, even if Citron refuses to entertain the thought.

“You might have to settle for just a necklace,” Itaru says and sidesteps neatly away from the radical conclusions of those listening.

“That can be arranged.”

Itaru hums. He glances at the guards once more. In theory, he has no issue with Citron acting so boldly and intimately with him in public. After all, there was that one game he played that had a canon lesbian pairing in it. They were fine. What negative comments there were had been buried in the 2chan forums by positive fanart. But, at the same time, he knows which countries the game is still banned in, and the list isn’t short. And he’s seen enough rude comments on his stream chats to keep his comments strictly in check when interacting with particular npc’s.

So, no, in the real world – beyond the theory of his idealistic world – he isn’t comfortable with Citron acting so boldly and intimately with him in public. Their theatre is one thing. Half of the theatre is dating, and those who aren’t are still somehow detached from the cisheteronormative world that seemingly everyone else lives in. But here, they don’t blend in. They stand out.

He knows Citron’s watching him closely, but Itaru keeps his eyes on the carnelian in Citron’s hand.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Citron says suddenly, which is enough to embolden Itaru to lift his gaze up again. “Banri was wanting to go to market with us.”

“Was he?” He can’t remember Banri saying a single thing to that effect. In fact, he distinctly remembers Banri threatening the rest of Akigumi if they dared so much as knocked on his and Juza’s door for the next few days.

“Oh, yes!” Citron continues. “He wanted to see if he could find a book for Sakyo.”

As soon as Citron mentions Sakyo-san, Itaru understands that this is a unique etude : in the form of getting the both of them out of this uncomfortable situation without appearing so obvious to the guards. So, he feigns realization.

“Oh, shit.” Itaru checks his phone for the time and doesn’t even have to pretend to double-take when he sees it’s already one in the afternoon. How long have they been down here? “Damn. He’s gonna bitch at us for the rest of the day, isn’t he?”

“Ah, well.” Citron gently places the carnelian back on its velvet pillow. “Let us eke go, then.”

“Reading more Edo literature?”

“Oh, Itaru, you noticed!” Citron takes his arm – to which Itaru hides a wince – and leads him to the staircase. “Yes, I have been reading as much as I can lately. I would like for Tsuzuru to write us something non-European. Oh, to play Jin onstage~!”

“Hmm,” Itaru muses. “Bakin’s work? They put all the characters into a video game a few years ago. Turned them into real dogs.”

“How fascinating. You must show me the game when we go back home.”

They’re already at the top of the staircase – about to go out into the hall and the sunlight – and Itaru pauses a second before continuing up the last step. _So, Citron considers Mankai Company more his home than a palace and kingdom that are his to rule._ He makes no mention of it since he isn’t fully ready to delve into that conversation yet.

He may have accepted that he’s content with a future together with Citron, but he’s not about to begin questioning Citron about his intentions regarding the length of their time together. That will pass in time.

They round a corner and nearly collide with Banri and Sakuya.

“Fuck, dude. Watch where you’re walking.” _Ah_. Banri’s in that sort of mood.

Itaru feels tremendously pleased with the newfound opportunity to tease Banri, so he makes a good show of looking around before turning back to the pair. “Oh my, oh my,” he laughs. “Did you forget Juza in your bedroom?”

“Fuck off!” Banri is more irritated than usual, and it’s extremely cathartic. “Azuma-san and the old coot teamed up against us.”

“Ah~?”

“He’s going out with me to find a gift for Tsuzuru!” Sakuya chirps. “We were thinking of asking Tsumugi-san if he wanted to join us.”

“Oh, what a wonderful idea.” Citron picks Sakuya up and spins him around once. “Shopping for your lover is such a wonderful denture.”

“Tsuzuru isn’t my, uh, he’s not my-” Sakuya loses track of his words when Citron abruptly releases him from his hold.

Sakuya wobbles back into Itaru, off-balance and red-eared. “I think you mean ‘venture,’” Itaru sighs as he helps Sakuya regain his balance.

“Hm,” Citron flashes him a devious grin, “maybe so.”

Banri sighs and tugs Sakuya’s sleeve, pulling the boy along with him. “You two are sickening,” he grumbles. “Sakuya, let’s go while we can.”

“Right!”

“In a hurry, Banri?” Itaru is going to _milk_ this for all its worth. “Did Sakyo promise to let you skip breakfast tomorrow if you eat dinner with everyone tonight?”

“Shut up, old man.”

Itaru scowls.

“Ah, young love,” Citron sings. Itaru lets him grab his hand and pull him down the hall again. “Were you and I ever like that, I wonder.”

“We’re still in our twenties,” Itaru grumbles. “And we’ve been dating ten months.”

“You’re right. We may still have a few years left.”

Itaru hides the smile with a cough. “Well, seeing as the local lovers are out of the palace, did you want to see if we can hide in a room somewhere?”

“Games?” Citron eyes Itaru’s right pocket. “Your SP must be full by now, right?”

“Nope,” but Itaru does pull out his phone because Citron’s right and it has been a while since he last opened his app. “I was thinking we could steal something from the kitchens and go to bed early tonight.”

Citron hums lightly. “Alone time sounds good.” He redirects their path and leads them down the hall to their right. “Should we steal something spicy?”

“On second thought, we can have dinner with everyone else.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is super, super late, but I did finish it! I originally intended this to be set in year three, but I ended up not writing in any details that would make that obvious. Intended to be set after Royal Blue by a few months (I think that's Year 3). I haven't proofread yet because I'm lazy.


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